midi switcher question

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Ben Hur

Ben Hur

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heya guys, got a midi switcher question. or maybe a few questions. lol. i'm getting a Herbert sometime soon here(waiting on my tax return), and will need a good midi switcher. got some advice from Pauly, who may chime in again. i would prefer something more square in shape for the sake of my pedalboard. just preference. i'm not much of an effects guy, so im not really intending to add a multi-effects processor or anything like that. pretty much, just control my amp channels and such via midi. one of my questions being, is there a midi switcher out there that i can just have all my patches available, say 12 or 16 or so, all on separate switches without needing to switch up and down through banks? i had a line 6 back in the day and hated having to switch from bank to bank to get my sounds. other question being, is it something i can build? i don't have much experience with it, but my brother is really good with schematics and soldering, etc. he's built me a few things. nothing major, but he has the ability. anyone know how to build a midi switcher like i'm looking for? or where do i need to look to get what i need? orrrrrrrrrr, am i out of my freaking mind, do i want something unnecessary and stupid?

thanks in advance for all your help!
 
rocktron all access will do 15 but its pricey. voodoo labs ground control does 10 and its 1/2 to 1/3 the price. Both are fairly big, but square. If you want smaller and more square I'd say look into the RJM mastermind, but it has less buttons. Rocktron midimate is rectangular and affordable and has 10. I personally had the midimate and ended up with the voodoo because it's more configurable and easier to bank. Theres alot to building one (programming a midi chip). The voodoo will let you copy presets into other banks. I copied my core 3-4 sounds to every bank on the same #s and put other ones on the other #s so I could always go back to the core sounds easily. It also has so many banks of effects that you can program them in order per song if you want. (it even has next/previous buttons for this type of setup)

Anyways sorry to be wordy. You've gotta remember the ones with more buttons require alot more pedalboard space.

Good Luck!!
 
VooDoo labs Ground Control Pro is a good budget version of the Rocktron All Access, but the AA is the best, IMHO.
 
the rocktron all access is the way to go, but you pay up with it, as compared to a voodoo ground control. you can get 8 direct access switches and 4 presets with it, at half the price, if that will do you.

steve
 
awesome, thanks guys! i'll be on the lookout for a ground control in the near future. the rocktron AA is awesome, just wayyy out of my price range at this point. ha, so is the ground control, but at least i can justify it!
 
Ben Hur":3qq4wimz said:
awesome, thanks guys! i'll be on the lookout for a ground control in the near future. the rocktron AA is awesome, just wayyy out of my price range at this point. ha, so is the ground control, but at least i can justify it!
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That was my thoughts exactly and I ended up with the ground control pro. I don't think I'll ever look back. It's awesome. Make sure you get the ground control "pro".
 
Hi all,

since you guys are talking VL GCP, is there any actual difference between the older Digital Music Corp one and the newer VL version of the GCP?

And while we are at it, I know that for the GCX they changed the opamp (I think it is a Burr Brown OPA2134 in the latest version?) for the buffer throughout the different revisions, has anything else changed?

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but it seemed like a good place to ask :-) Thanks in advance!
 
Ground Control Pro or Diezel Columbus are my favs. If i just needed a channel switcher the Tech 21 Midi Moose works wonders for $100.00

welcome to the board Ben!! :D
 
PaulyPanacea":33kfczzp said:
Ground Control Pro or Diezel Columbus are my favs. If i just needed a channel switcher the Tech 21 Midi Moose works wonders for $100.00

welcome to the board Ben!! :D
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I sold my Columbus.......then ordered another one. According to Brad, its on its way soon from Diezel HQ. The cool thing about the Columbus is that you don't need stage lighting. The blue light thrown off by it is enough to light an entire stage....... :D
 
i think i do want the flexibility to add midi rack stuff later on if i want, so i probably need more than just channel switching. question on diezel columbus, i read that columbus doesn't control any of the front end features on Herbie, such as mute or the mid cut. is that true? or better yet, is that relevant? 75% percent of the reason i want a Diezel in the first place is the sound i need, the other 25% is the ability to totally control the amp with my feet. nothing else with ANY kind of tone has that kind of control. gotta have the best, anything less is a joke!
 
Ben Hur":12z31awn said:
i think i do want the flexibility to add midi rack stuff later on if i want
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You just answered your own questions. Get the ground control pro. It's super flexible and you can layer and stack tons of rack gear to be controlled by it. I don't own a herbie so I can't comment on the mid-cut, but I'm pretty sure it's midi programmable. I know mute is. As far as I know Columbus is just a midi controller to the amp. (IE it doesn't do anything another controller won't). I could be wrong there.. Anyway, Diezel's and midi work like this. : You set the amp up how you want it and store it as a "patch" and it can be recalled by the controller by selecting that patch. It's not the same as having each function of the amp on an instant foot switch, but you can sort of set it up that way.

Example.. You're on channel 3 and just want to engage mid-cut.. There is not button for mid-cut on/off you have to have a patch for channel 3 with mid-cut.

Make sense?

Again not 100% on mid-cut programmability. One of the Herbie guys should chime in soon.
 
steve_k":2qv3xcv3 said:
PaulyPanacea":2qv3xcv3 said:
Steve, you sold something that you bought? No shit :lol: :LOL:
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I bought something back that I sold :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:
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Hey, the more times it's been around the block the more experience it has right? :lol: :LOL:
 
Ben Hur":3sy8tp76 said:
i think i do want the flexibility to add midi rack stuff later on if i want, so i probably need more than just channel switching. question on diezel columbus, i read that columbus doesn't control any of the front end features on Herbie, such as mute or the mid cut. is that true? or better yet, is that relevant? 75% percent of the reason i want a Diezel in the first place is the sound i need, the other 25% is the ability to totally control the amp with my feet. nothing else with ANY kind of tone has that kind of control. gotta have the best, anything less is a joke!
Click to expand...

Not sure where you got the info, but everything except the micro switches for bright on the Herbie and VH4 is controlled by the Columbus. You program any function to any button or bank that you want to on the Columbus. It is very easy to set up. Select the button you want to program, go through the program sequence on the amp and presto. If you want to run a multi-FX, you can control that too. The midi channel is set on the amp as in the owner manual. Use the midi thru to your FX and set it to broadcast on another channel. The Columbus sends out PC (program change) messages, not CC (continuous controller).

Steve
 
ha, i talk to myself and then answer myself all the time, i guess it's no suprise i did it in typing form! seriously though, i appreciate the advice and tips. i wanna make sure i do this right the first time!



Example.. You're on channel 3 and just want to engage mid-cut.. There is not button for mid-cut on/off you have to have a patch for channel 3 with mid-cut.[/quote]

sly - that makes sense, i think i knew that already, just couldn't put it into words, but i got it now.



thanks!
 
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